The leaf color varies from a deep maroon to various shades of grey in flat lighting

Cotinus coggygria leaves can appear to be a smokey pink

Sunlight shining through the leaves of the Cotinus coggygria can give them stunning shades of red and green.

The stems are brown with small
lenticels.

Leaves of smoke tree in fall colors

Smoketree habit in fall

Flowers of the smoketree are small, 5 petaled and yellowish. The flowers are borne in loose, terminal panicles in June or July.

Blossoms appear in June or July creating the smokelike appearance for which this tree is commonly named

Choose one of the photos above to see an enlargement. The back arrow will bring you back to this page.

Flowers:

small, 5 petaled and yellowish, borne in May or June.

Leaves:

alternate, simple, oval to obovate

Buds:

Leaf color:

In subdued lighting, the leaves are interesting because their color varies from chades of green to shades of deep maroom. There can be a major variation even on a single leaf. In more direct lighting they may appear to be dusty pink. The maroon is obvious in a green landcape, but even with direct sunlight the leaves aren't very reflective. However, when sunlight shines through the leaves they may appear in stunning reds and brilliant greens.

Fall Leaf color:

Includes yellow and red
The foliage of the smoketree is interesting in all seaons. From a distance the leaves might look almost black in contrast with surrounding trees of green. For the photos in the top row. the tag on the tree at Morton Arboretum said Cotinus coggygria Notcutt's Eurasian smoke tree Notcutt's Variety. The Accession number is 929-60 location W-58/46-94. The first two photos in the bottom row are identified as Cotinus coggygria with an accesion number of 492-84*1 sd and location M-50/78-30. The lower pictures were taken in October of 1999 but are not listed in the online lookup in June of 2004